British prosecutors denied Monday that Chinese diplomats pressured them to charge a German student who threw a shoe at Premier Wen Jiabao, as his trial opened.
Wen could have been seriously injured if the shoe had hit him in the face, a policeman told the court in Cambridge.
Martin Jahnke, 27, a pathology postgraduate, is charged with pitching a trainer at Wen as he spoke at Cambridge University in February in an act which went beyond "lawful" protest.
Prosecutors say he behaved in a way "likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress" but Jahnke denied a public order offence at a previous hearing.
The trial at Cambridge Magistrates Court in eastern England is expected to last for three days.
Wen was giving a lecture in Cambridge on February 2, the last day of a European tour, when he was interrupted by a protester shouting "this is a scandal" and branding him a dictator.
The protester threw a sports shoe, which hit the stage close to the Chinese leader, and was then escorted out of the auditorium.
Prosecutor Caroline Allison described how the protest started when Jahnke, sitting at the back of the lecture theatre, disrupted the speech by blowing a whistle.
"He was heard to say words to the effect that the university was prostituting themselves by allowing the premier to speak and referred to the premier as a dictator," she said.
Then Jahnke "picked up one of his shoes, a trainer, and he threw that trainer, which must have been with some force, onto the stage area a few yards from where the (Chinese) premier was standing.
"Mr Jahnke's behaviour in shouting and blowing the whistle may have started off as lawful protest but when he threw his shoe it became unreasonable behaviour and an act of aggression," she said.
A policeman assigned to guard Wen told the court: "If the shoe had struck the premier in the face it could have caused serious injury to his eye or to his nose."
Immediately after the shoe was thrown, Wen described the action as "despicable," before resuming his speech.
But he has since urged that the student be allowed to continue his studies at Cambridge, one of the English-speaking world's most prestigious universities, and insisted that the incident would not harm ties with Britain.
The alleged offence is contrary to section four of the Public Order Act 1986 and if found guilty, Jahnke could face six months in prison and a 5,000-pound (7,400-dollar, 5,730-euro) fine as a maximum sentence.
As the trial opened in Cambridge, lawyers for the German student sought to have it halted, on the grounds that the Chinese government had influenced the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police to prosecute.
A CPS lawyer denied there had been any undue influence — despite the fact that police charged Jahnke without referring the case to the CPS — and judge Ken Sheraton ruled that the trial should go on.
Jahnke's lawyer Tom Wainwright noted that British politicians — including business minister Peter Mandelson, who recently had green custard thrown at him — had been attacked in similiar circumstances, but charges had not been brought.
"You are clearly suggesting they have had some influence on the decision making. I categorically say they have not," said CPS lawyer Punam Malhan.
Shortly after the attack, China's ambassador to Britain Fu Ying said he hoped the student would be allowed to continue his studies.
Jahnke could face disciplinary action by the authorities at the university, where he reportedly carries out genetic research into debilitating diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis.
Muntazer al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US president George W. Bush last year, is currently serving a one year sentence.
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